The Bite-An Original Short Story

The Bite-An Original Short Story

The sun shines bright and warm all year long.  The water is pure and clear like glass, washing up on the white sand.  The sea breeze whooshes, making the sand fly like bees swarming into the sky.  Many species of organisms venture beneath the water including 1,500 species of fish, 411 types of hard coral, 134 species of sharks and rays, and about 5,000 species of mollusks.  Snails, lobsters, sea horses, crayfish, giant clams, jellyfish, turtles, fish, and more creatures swim in this underwater world. Made up of over 2900 reefs and more than 900 islands, this natural wonder is known as the one and only Great Barrier Reef.  Located in tropical North Queensland, Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders that can be seen from space.

It is June 21st, my birthday.  I am turning sixteen years old today.  As a grand celebration, my family and I are visiting the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.  We are staying in a hotel very close by. I’ve always loved the water. It is my favorite place on earth.  I love scuba diving and swimming. Sometimes when the weather is nice, I go outside and jump into the pool and stay there for hours until my skin turns into prunes.  

“Everyone put on your sunscreen! We’re heading out soon,” my mom says. 

My brother, Shawn, and I slather sunscreen all over our bodies.  

“Can we go now?” I plead. 

“Sure, wait until we get our gear,” my dad answers.

In the meantime, Shawn is hopping up and down and running hyperly.  I am seven years older than Shawn, but he has seven times more energy than me.  

“Calm down Shawn, won’t you ever grow up?” I ask him.

“Stop it!  Mommy, Skipper’s being mean to me,” Shawn complains.

“Shawn, it’s fine.  Just please don’t whine today.  It’s your sister’s birthday. Skipper, you know better though,” my mom says, loading swimsuits into the trunk.

Soon, we get into our rental car and drive to the Great Barrier Reef.  We buy our tickets and I run to the clear water, where I could see all sorts of life.  I badly want to jump into the ocean.

“Can we please go now?!” I ask urgently.  

“Are you ready?” my dad questions, scanning me.

“Yes,” I reply.

After one more glance my parents approve of me and I am off into the water.  

However, before I can touch the water my mom says, “Be careful, make sure you stay in our sight, and within the safety patrol’s sight.  We will be joining you soon.”

I nod, “Ok, I’m going now.  See ya!” I shout, plunging into the water.  

I close my eyes and then open them.  It is a totally new world. All sorts of color fill my eyes.  There are many fish; they swim left and right, up and down, diagonally.  I try to catch one but it quickly swims away. I make my way down deeper to the coral.  I swim alongside the coral where it seems like some turned white and died. I see a small crab and swim towards it.  I watch the crab as it takes its claws and is slowly eating a small dead fish. I am fascinated. I swim farther and see some clams.  When I get closer, I realize how big the clams are. I notice the clams have this blue squiggly mouth.  

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a turtle and I am amazed.  I remember my teacher had said, “Turtles are endangered, and are killed for their meat, skin, and shell.”  I remember how shocked and sad I was when I heard this. The turtle is beautiful and swims gracefully. I follow the turtle even farther, which leads me deeper into the reef.  I stop because I notice that everything turns dark for a second. There is now a dark shadow cast upon me. My eyes grow larger and my heart is pounding. The shadow is getting faster and closer.  I squeal as it approaches me. Oh gosh, no, no, no, no.  This can’t be happening, I think.  However, it does.  

Next thing I know, I feel its sharp teeth digging into my flesh.  Pain spreads through my body, like daggers.  My heart skips a beat.  I am petrified.  I yelp, it is a shark, and it bit me.  My fists tighten and I punch it hard in its eye.  It lets go of my arm for the time being. I never thought this day would come, never in a million years.  However, it did happen. Shockingly, the shark comes charging towards me again.

“HELP!” I shout, with all my fear.  

Then, a miracle happens.  A pod of dolphins come to me and circles around me.  The shark is a little hesitant but still charges towards me.  It swerves opening its jaws but misses me this time. The dolphins protected me from getting more deeply injured.  As the shark swims away, I cry out loud. I am breathing heavily now. My arm is burning in pain. Blood is coming out, staining the water.  I don’t hear anything, I just feel pain. My cut stings in the water. The dolphins swim off, leaving me alone in this underwater world. All alone, I cry, putting my hand on my injured arm.  I know I needed to get out of here, but I couldn’t. I am traumatized.

All of a sudden, a speedboat comes above me.  A man swims down and drags me up into the boat.  I lie down on the boat, panting and crying.

“Oh my god what happened!” the man asks, staring at my cut.  He looks like a young man in his twenties and has brown hair and blue eyes.  “Hold tight, we’re going back,” he assures me.

I am too shocked to speak.  The man takes me back on land to my parents, who are waving crazily, with scared expressions.  

“Oh my goodness, sweetie what are you thinking, going out there?  You went too far!” my mom yells.  

“Yes, we swam out to look for you but couldn’t find you and were worried to death,” my dad adds.

They stop talking when they notice my cut and the tears in my eyes.

“What, sweetie are you ok?” my mom questions, panicking.

“We need to take her to the ER right now!  A shark bite! Oh my goodness!” my dad yells. 

My dad takes a white sock and applies pressure to my bloody arm.  Next thing I know, I pass out. When I wake up, I am in the hospital, with my parents beside me.  

“You’re awake!  You fell asleep for some time.  You must have been so exhausted,” my mom exclaims happily.  I could hear the relief in her voice.  

“You’re going to be fine.  My name is Dr. Hammer,” a woman with a white lab coat says.  “Whenever you’re ready, can you explain to me what happened?” she asks.

I feel nauseous and sweaty.  I take a deep breath and say, “The shark bit me but the dolphins…they protected me.  It was the scariest thing I’ve ever experienced.”

“It appears you have a slight cut on the upper arm, it should heal in a few days.  I applied some anti-bacterial drops to prevent infection and gave you a few stitches” she says.  “Sharks do not mean to attack you. They think you are prey, like seals. That is why you need to make sure you are staying within adult and safety patrol vision,” she continues.  “You always have to swim with a partner. You are very lucky this time. You are not allowed to get back in the water until the wound heals”

I feel calmer and more relaxed after Dr. Hammer tells me I will heal in a few days. 

“No problem, I don’t think I will be getting back in the water anytime soon,” I tell Dr. Hammer.

“Ok, good,” she replies.  

Dr. Hammer talks with my parents, while Shawn is running around them.  He runs in circles, making me dizzy. 

“Are you guys almost done yet? I wanna go back already,” Shawn whines.

“Shawn, stop running, it’s making my head hurt,” I say.  

“Fine, but only cause you got hurt,” he replies, stopping and sitting in a chair, while fidgeting with his shoe laces.

Finally, when we are all set, I stumble off the hospital bed and get into the rental car.  I have to be careful not to let my injured arm touch anything. As we are driving back to the hotel, I think to myself, what a birthday!

I wrote this short story last school year.  I hoped you enjoyed it!